Can The Star Spangled Banner Give Conservatives An Edge For The 2012 Election?

It’s no secret that the Left has controlled popular culture in the U.S. for decades and that conservative Hollywood icons like Clint Eastwood may well be the last of a dying breed. Whether it be TV, film, fashion, the National Endowment of the Arts or anything else you can think of, anti-American sentiment seems to be getting stronger and stronger every year.

This has been especially true in what passes for popular music, which for decades has been anything BUT patriotic. Only country music seems to be able to maintain a patriotic tone.

A Band On A Mission

Madison Rising: The Star Spangled Banner

Now, from out of nowhere, comes a band that not only brings great rock music back into the forefront of popular culture, but is also on a mission – a mission to send a message to the world that American culture is alive and well.

That band is the #1 best selling rock band, Madison Rising. Madison Rising – named in honor of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and a key author of the Constitution, The Bill of Rights and The Federalist Papers – launched its debut album last October and has been steadily growing in popularity ever since.

With appearances on Fox & Friends, GBTV and The Mike Huckabee Show, along with live performances at CPAC, the I Stand With Gibson Rally, the 141st annual NRA Show in St. Louis and a slew of radio and online interviews, the band has managed to get quite a bit of attention in an industry generally averse to anyone with any message deviating from the Leftist philosophy.

Yet, despite that impediment, the band managed to get so much attention that their debut album reached as high as #29 on the Amazon rock charts earlier this year. Not bad for a group of guys who didn’t even know each other two years ago. Things really started to take off for Madison Rising when the band released their epic and spine-chilling rendition of the Star Spangled Banner on Memorial Day weekend.

“A few months ago, we went back into the studio to start writing tracks for our second album. While there, we started thinking about the best ways to convey our core message – hard work, integrity and an undying love for our country. Then it hit us,” said lead singer, Dave Bray. “We knew our goal was to be the ultimate pro-American band. What better way to convey that than by doing the most reverent and respectful cover of the ultimate American anthem? So that’s exactly what we did.”

Not only was the song itself phenomenal, but the video the band put together for it was so well done that people started spreading it around the Internet.

Leftwing Dorks Strike At The Star Spangled Banner

Then lightning struck when Current TV host Bill Press made his infamous comments, calling the National Anthem a “disgrace” and an “abomination.” Already irritated by comedian Daniel Tosh’s rant against the song from a few months earlier, the band decided to fight back and launched their One Million Star Spangled Banner Challenge to offer Americans a fun and meaningful way to show their patriotism by watching the band’s video and downloading their rendition of the National Anthem directly to their iPods to play proudly in their cars, at the gym, at the beach or anywhere else they want. With over 700,000 views on YouTube as of this writing, Madison Rising is well on its way to achieving its goal of one million views by Election Day.

With the Star Spangled Banner song, video and challenge all in place, things have begun to really take off for Madison Rising. Their version of the Banner has spent the last ten weeks in the top 100 best selling songs on Amazon.com in various categories including rock, country, adult alternative and others, with a good portion of that time at #1 in at least one of those.

Along the way, Madison Rising has partnered with The National Anthem Celebration Foundation (NACF) regarding their mutual goal of increasing public awareness, education and appreciation for the National Anthem and celebrating the song that identifies America as the land of the free and the home of the brave. “We want to teach the story behind the anthem and pass on to future defenders of those words what they mean and their relevance,” said NACF founder and president, Dan Esmond. “Madison Rising’s rendition engages those future generations and will help motivate them to get involved.” So far, Esmond’s strategy of teaming up with Madison Rising seems to be working, since his two teenage daughters play the song almost nonstop around the house.

As a result of the partnership with the NACF, Madison Rising will perform their best-selling rendition of the Star Spangled Banner accompanied by a complete fireworks display at the Charm City Music Festival (charmcitymusicfestival.com) in Baltimore, MD on September 15th in honor of Defenders Day weekend. The Charm City Music Festival features nationally known acts including rock legends Weezer, Irish favorites Flogging Molly and Reggae royalty Stephen Marley. Madison Rising will perform to a full house at approximately 9:00 PM immediately prior to Weezer taking the stage.

But the band isn’t stopping there and is aggressively putting additional partnerships in place with all sorts of pro-American organizations, military and veterans groups and first responders around the country. “It’s all about partnerships,” says band manager Richard Mgrdechian. “Every cause needs a soundtrack, and we want the world to know that real Americans can count on our music and our guys to energize their efforts and take their events to the next level.”

Along those lines, the band was a smash hit at the Smart Girl Politics summit last month in Alexandria, VA and will be performing on Herman Cain’s college truth tour later this week. Madison Rising is also set to perform its stirring rendition of the National Anthem at Dutchess Stadium in Wappinger’s Falls, NY on Tuesday September 11th to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and is in discussions with MLB and NFL teams to perform at their games sometime over the course of the current season.

Introducing Madison Rising

The band is made up of four members – Dave Bray on vocals, Alex Bodnar on lead guitar, Sam Fishman on drums and Steve Padelski on bass. In addition to being true patriots, each member has a unique story, which not only adds to their overall chemistry, but also to what they bring to the band as a whole.

Bray, in addition to being a navy vet, comes from a long line of patriots including his father who was a career NSA officer. Bodnar, born in Ukraine when it was still part of the Soviet Union, was brought to the USA at age seven by his parents who wanted a better life for him. Fishman’s grandparents escaped from a German concentration camp. And although it usually doesn’t take a rocket scientist to manage a rock band, Richard Mgrdechian, a Columbia MBA with an electrical engineering degree from the prestigious California Institute of Technology actually was one during his four years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA.

One of the band’s biggest concerns is that Republicans may once again be setting themselves up to lose the biggest election of our lifetimes. “Sure they have plenty of money, lots of ads on television, and enough lectures, debates and white papers to stay on the radar for all eternity,” says Mgrdechian. “Yet, no matter how many times they talk about it, Republicans are still missing the one thing that could actually get them the votes they need to win. They’re still missing the boat on popular culture.”

Twisted Liberal Rockers Rage Against Republicans

Along those lines, and as a result of the recent attacks on Paul Ryan and other Republicans by liberal rockers including Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider, Madison Rising has offered the Romney campaign and related PACs full use of their catalogue of pro-American music for radio and television commercials, as well as campaign rallies free of charge.

“It’s time politicians started using music that reflects their values,” said Dave Bray. “Use our song, ‘American Dream,’ use ‘Rally The Youth’, use ‘Before The Hyphens Came.’ If you don’t want to use any of those, at least use our version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner.'”

“I think Americans are getting really tired of the divisive undertones of all of these musicians and how they constantly attack anyone who supports the system they benefited from so much.”

“It’s ironic how guys like Tom Morello, Bruce Springsteen, Dee Snider and all the other anti-American loudmouths have made an absolute fortune bashing capitalism. They clearly have no shame whatsoever. They’re capitalists, they’re artists, they’re musicians, they’re Americans – and so are we. The only difference is that we don’t try to hide it.” – Richard Mgrdechian.

Then again, there are a lot of things Madison Rising doesn’t try to hide, especially its love, respect and admiration for our military. The band recently performed its rendition of the Star Spangled Banner along with a complete set of original music including Right To Bear, Walking Through That Door, American Dream, Soldiers of America, Hallowed Ground and others at the 2012 Milblog Family Reunion event in San Antonio, Texas. While there, the band donated a case of 100 CDs to the Soldiers Angels organization who hosted the event and took the time to help Soldiers Angels pack care packages for the troops deployed overseas.

Talking to Schools About The Star Spangled Banner

In a continuing effort to reach younger people, just last week the band announced that due to an influx of inquires from teachers around the country regarding its rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, that it will make both Bray and Bodnar available to bona-fide educators for Skype sessions into their classrooms to talk directly to students about the origin and significance of the song and what it means to them. The band has also offered carte blanche to any teachers wanting to use the band’s music or video for educational purposes within their classrooms on a royalty-free basis. “We want to be role models for these kids, and we know that having the chance to talk with us directly will help solidify the sort of positive relationship and impact we’re looking to create,” says Bray.

How cool it would be for a sixth-grader to be able to talk to a real-life rock star?

Cool To Be Patriotic Again

The band is ready to change the old and stodgy political and educational establishments and make it cool to be patriotic again. “People can make all the speeches they want, but in the end, pop culture trumps politics every time,” says Mgrdechian. “Sponsorships. Endorsements. Screaming women. These guys truly are rock stars in every sense of the word. But they’re more than just rock stars; they’re ambassadors for a cause. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Support Madison Rising

Madison Rising is currently recording its second album and actively laying the groundwork for a national tour. To get more involved with the band and help support their mission, visit them at: kck.st/T1eyLt

You Say You Want A Revolution? Well Madison Rising might just be the guys to make it happen.

Alan Gray is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NewsBlaze Daily News and other online newspapers. He prefers to edit, rather than write, but sometimes an issue rears it’s head and makes him start pounding the keyboard. Alan has a fascination with making video and video editing, so watch out if he points his Canon 7d in your direction.